Reviews tagging 'Blood'

Glory by NoViolet Bulawayo

10 reviews

kammikim's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a powerful book - in voice, in story, in style, in message. I found it challenging on multiple levels, and consequently slow to get through. That said, I think it's a deeply profound and important book and I'm glad I did eventually see it through to the end. The imagery, emotion, originality, and storytelling were truly inspiring to me. It's an inventive and compelling satire from a clear, confident, and compelling voice.

The challenges:
1. The unique style of narration is no doubt intentional and I think meant to represent oral traditions of storytelling, while also making a point about the repetitiveness of history, but the constantly repeating phrases and sentence structures did make for a sluggish or exasperating read at times. Some places it added power to the story, others it took away from the power and momentum in my opinion.
2. The violence in this book is necessary to the story, but it is truly difficult to get through. I ended some chapters sobbing and had to step away from the book for a month+ at a time to process and recover. It's a testament to Bulawayo's incredible command of emotion, empathy, and unflinching attention to the worst sides of humanity that it had such a visceral effect on me as a reader, but be aware that this is a really, really tough read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture, Colonisation, Child death, Animal death, Rape, Murder, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Violence, Sexual violence, War, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Misogyny, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Blood, Grief, and Genocide

orlagal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Abandonment, Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Trafficking, Violence, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia

plasticpansy's review against another edition

challenging dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Genocide, Animal death, Violence, War, and Torture

natrabbits's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, War, Religious bigotry, Racism, Grief, Genocide, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Police brutality, Gun violence, Murder, Blood, Suicide, and Death

faduma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Blood, Classism, Colonisation, Child death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Genocide, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Police brutality, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Torture, and Trafficking

georgiarybanks's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death, Gun violence, Rape, Blood, Violence, and War

differentsisters's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

2.5

 I see what the author was trying to do. Once I got use to the inclusion of Zimbabwean dialect, the book was readable. What became tiring was the heavy heavy use of repetition (a whole page of just the word take). I could see why some uses of repetition was used, but it became tiresome and felt like an editor needed to cut at least a hundred pages of repetition. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Sexual assault, Torture, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Grief, Violence, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Misogyny, Classism, Blood, War, Religious bigotry, Gun violence, Gore, and Colonisation

lochanreads's review against another edition

dark funny inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I really love and admire this book for its linguistic skill and hopeful message

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, and War

Moderate: Grief, Homophobia, and Misogyny

hilaryreadsbooks's review against another edition

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Police brutality, Rape, Sexual assault, War, and Violence

kayschwe's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, Cursing, Rape, Suicide, Gun violence, Violence, War, Racism, Blood, Child death, Colonisation, Death, Genocide, and Xenophobia